Show Notes

In this episode, we focused on organizing for immigrant rights in D.C. and the fight to keep the District a sanctuary city. First, we sat down with Celina Marquez, a third year law student at George Washington University studying immigration law and helping DMV residents navigate the complexities of the immigration system at the GW Immigration Legal Clinic. Our second interview featured Yasemin Zahara and Paola Perez, two community organizers from Many Languages, One Voice, a Mt. Pleasant based grassroots organization working to build power in D.C.’s immigrant community. Sandwiched between the interviews, we heard “Cathedral” by Flavor Wasters. You can find more of their music on Bandcamp, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the loop on upcoming performances.

Call to Action

Immigrants make up 25% of our city's population, and play a huge role in keeping the District a vibrant, healthy, and beautiful place to live. To keep D.C. safe for all of us, we must stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters and demand that our city upholds its promise of sanctuary and freedom for all residents. Here’s what you can do:

Support Community Based Organizations

Provide your time, treasure, and talent to www.mlovdc.org/, Sanctuary DMV, or other partners in your community. They need money to support their operations, volunteers to help with the behind the scenes work of organizing, and people in the streets to help the movement grow.

Tell the Mayor and DC Council To Keep DC a Sanctuary City

As Yasemin and Paola discussed in our interview, the D.C. government has not yet taken a strong enough stand in favor of keeping the city a sanctuary, despite several public pronouncements in support of our immigrant community. Make your voice heard by telling the Mayor and Council directly to put their money (our money!) where their mouth is.

You can find contact information for your Council Members and the Executive Office of the Mayor by following the links. Call, tweet, email, or Facebook stalk, but whatever you do, let them know that you stand with D.C.’s immigrant community.

Other Resources

Check out our write-up about why D.C. must remain a sanctuary city: bit.ly/2mOL1sY

Read more about MLOV’s work organizing D.C. immigrant communities in support of sanctuary: bit.ly/2nYit0a

Watch community members confront Mayor Bowser to demand stronger action following November’s election: bit.ly/2nMpjXw

Learn more about D.C.’s immigrant population, by the numbers: bit.ly/2kGwnlv

Yup, there’s an Indivisible Guide for that too: bit.ly/2lMs1gP